It was built between 2012 and 2014 as a project involving hundreds of students and apprentices and was designed by Duncan Baker-Brown, an architect who also lectures at the university.

The materials consist of a wide range of construction industry and household waste—from toothbrushes and old jeans to VHS cassettes and bicycle inner tubes—and it is the first public building in Europe to be built primarily of such products.

The building has won several awards and was shortlisted for the Royal Institute of British Architects' Stephen Lawrence Prize in September 2015.

Waste House has its origins in an earlier project by Duncan Baker-Brown,[9] a senior lecturer at the university and a director of architecture firm BBM Sustainable Design[9] based at Cooksbridge railway station in East Sussex.

[4][9] Work finished in April 2014, the building was featured as part of the Brighton Festival the following month,[4] the public were able to view the interior during June 2014, and by August 2014 Waste House was complete.

[9] Students learning carpentry at CCB designed the timber-framed structure and the "fine timber staircase, finished with a decorative flourish of offcuts".

University of Brighton Faculty of Arts students worked with Baker-Brown on the design, the selection of materials and on interior features such as furniture.

[9] A major aim of the project was to introduce students and apprentices to sustainable building techniques and to allow them to continue testing their ideas by retrofitting new fixtures.

[7] Between the carpet tiles and the walls themselves, some new material was used: DuPont supplied about 400 square metres (4,300 sq ft) of "breathable membrane", to further weatherproof the building, and "Housewrap" moisture seal.

[4] Throughout the building, the space between the boarding and the exterior clay and chalk blocks has been filled with household rubbish which will act as insulation.

[2][4] The cassettes and other media came from the stock of rental shops which were closing down; an aeroplane cleaning company at nearby Gatwick Airport donated most of the toothbrushes, which were provided to First and Business Class passengers and discarded after one use,[12] and some others were provided by Brighton schoolchildren; and the denim came from textile traders[4][2][7] (in particular, one company which turned imported jeans into denim shorts by cutting off the legs).